Doctors Should Not Have to Decide Who Lives or Dies
In these times, there is no avoiding unpleasant decisions. But we can choose who makes those decisions. There is a world of difference between the ethical rules that govern the care of patients and the ethical rules that govern public health. Clinical ethics prioritize each individual and leave little room for utilitarian calculations. By contrast, in public health ethics, the value of individual lives is overshadowed by the needs of society.
The Future of Work in Healthcare: A Strategic Approach to Bridging the Generational Divide
Aging clinicians, who started their careers in a healthcare environment that prioritized spending time with patients above all, maintain excellent relationship-building skills but may not stay on top of all the technological developments. On the flip side, younger clinicians are generally comfortable and competent in the use of technology, but may not have spent as much meaningful time at the patient’s bedside as their seasoned colleagues.
How to Improve Your ACO? Just Ask
With ACOs firmly entrenched within the U.S. healthcare system, ACO administrators in recent years have focused their success and performance metrics on financial, quality, and care coordination measures. Yet an entire range of key performance data is also available from ACOs’ most readily accessible information resource: their patients.
Use These Checklists to Stay Ahead of Promised COVID-19 Focus During Surveys
In a Quality, Safety & Oversight Group memo to state and regional CMS offices, the agency ordered its surveyors to suspend “non-emergency inspections across the country” to allow “inspectors to turn their focus on the most serious health and safety threats like infectious diseases and abuse. This shift in approach will also allow inspectors to focus on addressing the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).”
Rapidly Accelerating Use of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Demands Ethical Analysis
The proliferation of AI and robotic use is inescapable, so how can the associated ethical challenges be identified and addressed? It was only last year that the FDA released model 1.0 of its software precertification to provide an initial tool to test AI and machine learning technology.
Study: Busy Surgeons Pose a Risk to Patient Safety
The report from Coverys takes a look at five years of closed medical malpractice claims data from 2014–2018 to provide insight into the root causes of surgery-related claims and evidence-based recommendations to help mitigate future risks in the delivery of care.
Protect Medical Devices From a Cybersecurity Threat
A recent survey of approximately 60 C-level healthcare executives from CynergisTek brings the issue into sharper focus. Though about one-third of executives considered medical device security one of the top five risks facing healthcare, most reported they lack an effective strategy to assess the risks posed by medical devices.
Problem-Solving in Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Older People
Health literacy plays a key role in the management, control, and prevention of disease in general. However, it is of particular importance in diabetes, due to both the disease’s chronicity and its effect on quality of life. Effectively, health literacy levels directly influence overall quality of life, especially in the elderly population.
Human Performance Limitations in Medicine: A Cognitive Focus (Part 2)
In this case study, with nearly 600 medication labels prepared per day, the atmosphere was rife for potential error. Many drugs have similar-sounding names, and during the labeling process the technician is likely to be multitasking, under time pressure, and subject to multiple interruptions (not to mention a consistently noisy environment).
Anesthesia Procedures Led by Physicians Provide Highest Patient Protection
There are roles for more practitioners in anesthesia procedures, including serving on a team with a shared vision for a strong, patient-focused model of care. But that care must be led by a physician anesthesiologist.